FSU women's basketball ready for final stretch

With just one month left in the season, things are heating up for the 'Noles

Feb. 7, 2013

The FSU women’s basketball team celebrates after defeating Iowa 83-69 on Nov. 28, 2012. The Seminoles will take on Miami this Sunday to begin the last stretch into postseason play. / Justin Alley/FSView

Written by

Mat Hooper

Staff Writer @HooperTV

Basketball season seems to last a long time because of all the games, but it really only equates to about four months of play. November, December, January and February are those months. The No. 19 Florida State women’s basketball team has played through three of them and all that remains is February, the final month.

Florida State opened the month up by cruising to a victory over Clemson last Sunday to improve to 18-4, 8-3 in the ACC. The Seminoles can’t expect to cruise through the rest of the February, though. This Sunday they’ll square off against Miami in Coral Gables, and then one week later they’ll have to face North Carolina for the second time. Mark your calendars, because following that they’ll take on ACC heavyweight, the Duke Blue Devils, in Durham. The final day of the month will be a re-match against Maryland, a team the Seminoles lost to by seven earlier in the season.

The final stretch is proving to be quite the obstacle for the Seminoles. The team will face every top tier conference opponent the ACC has to offer. Florida State is only 1-2 in conference games against teams above .500 and only 2-3 against ranked opponents. These last 30 days or so, the Seminoles will take on five conference opponents above .500 and three teams in the top 16.

This is the Seminoles chance not only to position themselves well for the ACC Tournament, but also well for the NCAA Tournament. A strong showing could lead them to receive a top four seed when the tourney comes around, while a weak showing could leave the Seminoles as a double-digit seed or even worse, on the outside looking in.

January could be seen as successful with a five-game win steak in the middle of it, including a win against a then-ranked Miami squad. The month did see back-to-back losses though, one against a highly touted Maryland team and the other against mediocre Wake Forest. It then ended on a sour note with a 10-point loss to North Carolina.

If February is going to be truly successful, then the ’Noles will have to beat more than just Miami. A marquee win against one of the ACC opponents with a stronger record than them can really put a nice bow on the regular season for them and give them a reason to look forward when the post season comes around.

This Sunday at 2:05 p.m., the Seminoles will take on the Hurricanes in Coral Gables, as Florida State looks to improve to 2-0 in February. Florida State beat them handily, 86-65, in the first game thanks to strong showings by Natasha Howard and Chelsea Davis. They’ll look to the forward again this time around.

With three months in the bag and one month left, the Seminoles will need to bring their A-game to every match as other teams try to position themselves for good seeding, while other teams try to secure spot in the tournament or just play spoiler. February and one game in March is all that remains before the post season and the madness begins.